The Sun. — London, England, 1864-05-18 00:00:00

ONEY MARKET AND commzuclAL INTELLIGENCE, There was a slight downward tendency in the fireign exchanges yesterday afternoon. _ _ The shares of the Tavistock Iron and Coal Com pany wore in demand this day at 1 to 2 prem. The list of application is closed. The directors of the Natal Land and Colonisation Company have just issued their report to be pre sented at the forthcoming meeting. It states that, " After writing off 10 per cent. of the preliminary expenses, the accounts show a net profit to the 31st December of £13,466 Bs. 7d., of which sum £3,473 Bs. 9d. have been already distributed among he shareholders, leaving a balance of £9,992 19s. 10d. still to be dealt with. The directors therefore propose, on the present occasion, to pay a dividend at the rate of 6s. per share, free of income tax,fwhich will absorb a further sum of £6,918155., making, with the previous dividend of 35., a total distribution for the year of 9s. per share, or 9 per upon the £5 paid shares, and leaving a surplus to be carried forward to the next account of £3,074 4s. 10d. In addition to the proposed dividend, the fund arising from the payment of 20e. per share on the 14,000 paid up shares to be converted into ordinary shares, as explained in the circular issued last February, will be distributed as a bonus at the rate of 14s. on each paid up share, and 7a. on each share on which £5 have been paid. The Freehold and General Investment Company, with a capital of £250,000, the first issue to consist of half the amount in shares of £25 each, has been brought forward for the purpose of purchasing freehold and leasehold property in London and its neighbourhood. Negotiations are now in progress for the acquisition of freehold properties at the West End, and the vendors have agreed to take a portion of their money in shares of the company. Two O'CLOCK. At Paris this morning, according to Renter's telegram, the Three per Cent. Ren tee were 66f. 750. Heavy. The English Stock Market has been adversely influenced to-day through political rumours relative to the Conference, and Consols have declined k per cent., the quotations being 9111 for money, and 901 I less the dividend, for the account. The New Threes and Reduced Annuities are 891 s ; Annuities, 1885, 14 9-sixteenths ; Exchequer Bills, March, 10s. die.; India 5 per Cents., 1058 'I; Enfaced 4 per Cents., 932; and the Bonds 25 dis. Bank Stock is 237, and India Stock 217. Rather less firmness is apparent in the Foreign Market, and business is quiet. Turkish 6 per Cents., 1862, are 711 ; do., Consolides 48/ 49 ; Mexican, 441. 8 ; do. Now Loan, -1 die. par.; Greek, 237,- 1 ; Spanish Passive, 341 a ; Portuguese, 48/ Italian, 67168 ; Russian Loan,2l / prem. ; Swedish' . do., 21 I prem. ; and the Confederate Loan, 65 67. The operations in the Railway Share Market have been exceedingly restricted, and the only change of importance has been an advance of £2 on London and Brighton ; Metropolian have im proved ss. ; and Great Western have declined ss. The Foreign and Colonial lines remain without change of importance as regards values. Bank and Miscellaneous Shares have, in some instances, been a shado flitter. Alliance have receded to 62k ; Bank of London to 581 ; London and Colonial have improved to 161 17 ; and London Financial to 281 d. Subjoined are the current quotations of some of the principal new prof zets :—Millwall Iron Wotks, 1 prem.; Imperial Bank of China, 1 prem.; Provincial Banking Corporation, 1 2 prem.; In, ternational Land Credit Company, 2 1, prem. BRITISH FUNDS—ONE O'CLOCK. GOVERNMENT FUNDS. 3 per Cent. Consols Ditto Account, May 8 .... per Cent. Reduced New 3 per Cent New 2/ per Cent. Jan. 1891.... Ditto 5 per Cent., Jan. 1873 Annuities, 30 yrs, expire SthJau., 1880 — Ditto for 30 yrs, expire sth April, 1885 l4 9-16 Ditto (Red Sea Telegraph), Aug. 1908 — Much. June. Exchequer Bills, £l,OOO, 24 8E 3 per Cent. 10 dis Ditto £5OO .. Ditto £lOO and £2OO Bank England Stk, 5} per Ct. Ditto Account INDIAN GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. India Stock, 10f per Cent., April 1874 217 Ditto 5 per Cent. July, Ib7o Ditto Account.... Ditto 4 per Cent., Oct, 1888.. .Do Certificates Ditto Enfaced Paper, 4 per Cent .. 93 1 Ditto 5 per Cent., Jan. 1872 Ditto 51 per Cent., May, 1879 Ditto Debentures, 4 per Ct., April 1864 Ditto ditto Aug., 1866 Ditto Bonds £l,OOO . — Ditto under £l,000 FOREIGN FUNDS—ONE O'CLOCK. Austrian Bonds, 5 per Cent — Ditto 1859 • Brazilian 5 per Cent Ditto 41 per Cent., 1852-58-60 Ditto 1863. B7l Buenos Ayres 6 per Cent -- Ditto Account — Chillan 6 per Cent. Ditto 41 pet Cent. Colombian 6 per Gent — Cuba, 6 per Cent. Danish 3 per Cent., 1825 Ditto 5 per Cent. 1861 — Ditto Scrip £5O paid i pm Equador New Consolidated, 1 per Cent — EZYptian 7 per Cent — Ditto, Second Issue Greek 5 per Cent., ,1824-5, ex-Coupons — Ditto Account Ditto Coupons — Ditto Account — Guatemala 5 per Cent. Ditto, 1839 and 1859 Italian 5 per Cent.(\laremmana Railway) Mexican 3 per Cent Ditto Account 441 1 Moorish Imperial 5 per Cent New Granada — Ditto 2 per Cent. Ditto Deferred Ditto Land Warrants (Hectares) — Peruvian 41 per Cent .. Ditto Account... flitto 3 pu Cent. (Uribarren) Ditto 41 per Cent., 1862 Ditto Account B6l Portuguese 3 per Cent., 1853 Ditto Account • • ---- Ditto 3 per Cent., 185 G, '7, '9, 'GO, 62,'3 481 Ditto Account — Russian 5 per Cent., 1822, £ St St Ditto 41 per Cent., 1860 . . -- Ditto 3 per Cent 1859 . Ditto 5 per Cent, 1862 B6l 1 Ditto 1861 Scrip. 1110 paid Ditto Anglo-Dutch Sardinian 5 per Cent — Ditto Account Spanish 3 per Cent IlDitto Account Ditto New Deferred Ditto Account 451 ' ,Ditto Passive Ditto Account 34! Spanish Cert. of Coup not funded .. ll Ditto Account Swedish, 4 per Cent Ditto Scrip, £2O paid pm Turkish 6 per Cent. 1851 — Ditto Account Ditto 6 per Cent. 18;38 Dit to Account Ditto, £lOO Bonds Ditto 6 per Cent. 1862 Ditto Account Ditto £lOO Bonds.. — Ditto 1863 Ditto Guaranteed, 4 per Cent Venezuela 3 per Cent. k : Ditt4 Account Ditto 6 per Cent., 1852 'Pitt° Account Ditto 6 per C en t, 1364 Ditto 11 per Cent - Dividends on the above payable in Lond Austrian, 5 per Cent,. Ex. 10 Florins. Belgian 41 per Cent., Ex. 25f... Dutch 21 per Cont., Ex. 12 Crud 64 Ditto. 4 per Cent. Certificates Dalian, 5 per Cent., 1861, Ex. 25 francs — Ditto Account .. TWO O'CLOCK. Consols Money Ditto Account .... 901 x d Liverpool Cotton Market—This Day, Market firm and quiet. Sales, 7,000 bales. ports, 8,161; previoualy, 63,863. CITY, TWELVE O'CLOCK. No alteration is noticeable in the appearance of the discount market. The inquiry for accommoda tion is small, and the rate for first-class three months' paper continues at 82 per cent. Most parties are holding over their bills in anticipation of a reduction being made in the Bank rate to-morrow. About 1;88,000 in gold was taken into the Bank yesterday. 13.14, st 10 st st 50 20 .t.a8,9 12.10 Shan 100 Sk I stock stock stock 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 stook stook 206 206 100 100 stook stock stock stook stock stock rock SHARE MARKETS—This day. ORDINARY SHARES AND STOokS. Share Railways. Paid. Closing Business , Price. done. Bir., Wol., and Str. Val. Blythe and Tyne. Bost., Sleat.and Bristol and , Exeter Caledonian Cork and Bandon Cornwall Do A. (A gets D o. B till (ip c.pan.has ( been paid to li. j Dublin & Belfast Juno. DlM.,Perth,&Ab. June. Edinburgh & Glasgow. Glasg. and S. Western. Great Eastern, Ord. stk Ditto A stock Ditto East Anglian st GreatNorthot Seotlan.l .3reat Northern... Do A stock Do B do Ct. S. an 1 W. of Irelanh Great Western Do Str Val gua. stock Lancaslilce & Yorkshire ILondon and Blackwali Lon., Bright.,& S. Coast Lon., Chat., and Dover Lon. & North Western Lon. & Scr.th Western Han., Shef., & Lincoln. Alaryport and Carlisle. Do It shares Aetropolt tan Alidland Do New Do Binning. & Derby Aid. Gt. W. of Ireland Do. shares Aid Kent Do Cray Line North British &lin., Perth, & Dundee Nth. Eastern—Berwick Do, G.N.E. purchase ii Do Leeds Do York Do Car1i51e.......... North London Do New . ... North Staffordshire N. and S. W. Junction Scottish Central Scot N. E., Aber. stoeli Do Scot. Mid, stock I Shrews. and Welohpoo Shropshire Union South Devon ... I South Eastern South Wales S. York. and River Dun 1 staines,Wok.,andWok Stockton & Darlington Do Do New, 1866 Cuff Va1e......._.. 1 DoB Do C Ulster 8 8i 8i 9 83 1 1 5 119 120 Do Do Vale of Neath Victoria sta. and Pim Waterford Sz Kilkenny West Cornwall W. Hartlepool liar.ttll West Midland—Oxford Do Newport Do Hereford 100 100 100 100 100 100 all I 100 (100 i 100 all 100 k. 160 6 7 35 37 16 17 88 90 101. 106 47 47 6a 7a 129 131 138 140 128 132 90 92 64} 641 111 1111 65 C 7 10 104 40 4 1102 1111 97i 08. 534 14 114 i )14 132} 134 103 1(5 50161 214 '45; 101 lot 574 GB4 €9 90 127 110 11 24 I) 76 78• RI 111 121 123 39 40 64 t 6 33 35 901 91i 103 106 6 1 Id/ 34 91 10 8 8 165 1701 5 7 3 t p 98 100 IKONS. 47! & Closing nice. 59 61 102 iO3l 111 y $ 66 F. 3,1 3 4i 41i 97i 11.1 lok 115 11; 14 132 1011 91} 1 id }p 64 81 94 77 82 77 8: 77 82 101 IL3 98 100 105 107 104 )05 t P 20 204 71 73 60 42 62 64 51 63 48 50 40 42 25 27 23 C 6 103 101 11 100 100 100 100 100 101 103 10 10i 10i 10 6 91 95 82 84 iP 101} )02i 94 96 90 9s 58 60 3 5 82 24 102 103 101 101 P IP 100 102 93 95 103 105 102 104 102 104 89 01 89 91 106 108 107 109 1(8 110 110 112 105 107 106 108 [O6 108 101 103 BRITISH P Railways itlantio & St Lawrenef Bom.,Barodat.Cent Ind Gu. 5 per mat — Do. New . ...... Do. E. Shares Buffalo and Lake Huron Do. Preference ...... liatralo,Brant,&Godricl; p. at. bds. Aug. 1, 1872 Do. do. July 1, 187:5 Do. do. June I, 16;4 Cleutta.k S. E a eta. (Li; Cape Town kt Dock Seri; Eastn. Bengal gu. 5 p. bast Indian. go. 5 P. 0., Do. do. G Ext..... _ ..... Do. do. H do.. .. Grand Trunk of Canada Do. Ist Pref. Bonds.. Do. ao. deferred...... Do. 2d Pref. Bonds.. Do. do. deferred...... Do. 3d Pi ef. stock Do. do. deferred...... Do. 4th Pref. stock... Do. do. deferred...... Do. New gua. 5 p. 0... Do. January, 1862 .. Gt. South.of India (Lim guaranteed 5 per cent. Gt. W. of Canada Shares Do. New ....... Do. 6 p.c. '73 witit't opt. Do. 51i p. a. do. '77-8.... Indian Branch Limited Madras. guar., 5 p. c. D 0.4 p. o. Extension Dc. fi do— • • Do. Fifth Extension. Melb.Corp. B p. c. Bnds. Meth. & Hobson's Bay. Do. 7 p. o. &lortg. Bds. Newßrurzwick a Candu Class A. and B. N.Rl.C'da6 pc Ist pt bds Soinde Do. Delhi c:3 4 Do. 5 Do. Panjaub Do. Do. .... • Do. Indus. St. Flo J COLONIAL GOFER: t,h1,.1i07. p.c.J _lBl7-S1 Po. a p. c. Feb. & Aug. Do. 0 p. c.Mar. & Sept. Do. E p. c. JandirJuly. Do. 5 Inscribed stock 'Cape G.llope, 6 p Do.Ap & Oct. 1880 Do. 1890 Do. Jan. Sr July, 1891.. Ceylon, N0v.1878, 6 p c 'Mauritius 6 per cent .. 'Natal Gov. 6 per cent.. , N.B.Gov.6p.o.Ja.&July Do. 6p. c.Ap. & Oci. N. S.W. Gov. 5 p 1,18 , c Do. 5 p. c.,18/1 to 11:7( Do. d0.,1888 &upwds New Zealand 6 p cent. 'Nova Scotia Gov. 6 g. c. sterling, 1875. Queensland Gcv. 6 g. c. G6p.c.1878.& ug.. iVie.Gov. °p.c. Ja.&July Do. to 6 p.c. An.ezOnt.. ISSE Paid. all Business don( 60& 103} all all 10u 100 5 104 I I 1:31 3 T SECURITIES. 1081 BRITISH MINES. 2 Cambrian Consol. Gold 1 Amalgamated 3 t 83 Devon G. Con.. (Tavist ) 1 560 670 East Bassett (Illogan) 30 e 7 70 - East Clogau Gold Ltd 'East Caradon ...... 2.14. e 231 30 - ;Nast earn Brea.... E. tlr'l Russel (Tavistk ) 8.13.0 31 4 - Gam.&St.Aubyn(Gwen 'At 7 9 !Great South To_ o Mis l7s 21 3 —43 r. Wheal Vor (ffeleton 40 33 35 35 !cirenville lifercd's-Foot 8.12 88 40 ingston Downs... Lim 31 4 - Lady Bertha Ilargaret (tiny Lelant 9 15 17 Marke Valley.. 4 llyndy Iron Ore (Lim ? 21 14 1 d New Setun lOl 8.5 90 - • North Downe 2l 11 11 S.Wlt't Basset (111o4an 3.1.0 14 24 North Wheal Crotty 2.6.9 41 41 Par Consols (st. Blazey . 20 liovidenoe(Uny Lelnt.) 10 0 41 43 South Caradon(St.Cleer it 450 470 !S. Cam Brea (Illogan) — Fran. (Mogan 18.18.9 40 50 Stray Park rsmar Silv.ct Lead lliin. - rin Croat I 18 19 • IWest Basset (Illogan), 1,4 9 Cl radon (Liskeard, 5 16 18 16/ West Seton Wheal Basset (Mogan ) 51 90 95 Wheal Buller (Itedruth) 10 30 35 Wheal Kitty (I.3.LelAnt) 2.0.6 - - Wheal Luthott Wheal Mary Ann ;Men ) 8 12 14 Wheal seton . 581 215 265 I Wheal Tretawney (Lie.) 7 20 21 Wheal Union , 3.17 11 2 PREFERENCE SHARES. Great Eastern, E. Counties, Ext. No. 1, 107 Great Western, 4 per cent. irred., 87 Great Western, 5 per cent. rd. pref., 102 Mid. Consolidated, 6 per cent. stock, Ditto. Bristol and Birm., 6 per cent., 1354 North British, Border Union gua. pref. Sh., 11 PREFEIIENCE SHARES AND STOCKS. London, Chatham, &c., Metrop. Ext., B 6 per cent., Ditto, ditto, Q 6 per cent. 79 FOREIGN RAILWAYS. Antwerp and Rotterdam, 96 Bahia and San Francisco (lirn.) gua. 7 per cent, 171 Ottoman (Smyrna to Aidin), 12& Sambre and Meuse, 8 San Paulo (Bra.), gua. 7 per cent., 111 Ditto (all), 20i 20 FOREIGN MINES. St. John del Rey (lim.), 15 BANKS. Alliance (lim.). 051 21 Ditto, new, 58 21 Anglo Austrian, 71 Australasia, 74 Bank of utago, lira., Brazilian and Portuguese, lira., 131 British and Californian, lira., 61 Chartered Aer. of India, London, and China, 701 70 Consolidated Bank, lira., 111 n 1 East:London, lira., 81 European Bank, lira., 12' g 2 Hindustan, china, and Japan (lim.), 33 Ditto, new, 15 Imperial Bank (11m.), Ditto, new, 25/ Imperial Ottoman, 2l; Land Mortgage Bank of India, iim.. 6 London Bank of Scotland, lint., 22 I London and Brazilian aim.), 58 s London and Colonial (lira.), 16 17 London and County, 64 London, Hamburg, Cont. Exchange, lira., 1.131 London Joint Stock, 49 8) London and Northern, tiro., 23 / London and South African, 26 London and 11, estminster, 94/ Merchant Bank, lira., 231 Mercantile and Exchange, Ern., 19} e sropolitan and Provincial Bank, Rm., 321 Mexican, lim., 63. 7 New South Wales, 56/ 1 London, Ilirm„ and S. Staffordshire, - Ern., 241 51 London Chartered Bank of Australia, 27 6/ Ditto, new, issued at 2 pm., Ilk Union of London, 591 81 MISCELLANEOUS. Australian Mc.rt. Land and Finance, MIL: 31 t .t3erlin Water Works, Um.. 81 City Offices, lint, 51 Continental Union Gas, lim., 6,1 1 1 Credit Foncier, 13 12i Egyptian Corn. and Trading, lira. 51 1 Fore-street Warehouse, lira., 6 1 ft Gen. Credit and Finance of Loudon, lint, 101 }Judson's Bay, 19) Imperial Financial, lim.. 93 & 4 International Financial z-,ociety, lint, 111 a ft Joint Stock Discount, ihn., 7g Land Securities, lim., 5;1 London Financial Association, lim., 28A 8 1 Ditto, new, 16} 6 Mercantile Credit Association, lin, 1 6 16 i 16 National Discount Company - , lina,, 14f 4 THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 18, 1864. Progress of Ordnance at Home and Abroad, The above was the title of a most important and interest ing lecture delivered by Commander R. A. E. Scott, R.N., at the United Service Institution, on Monday evening; Captain Heath in the chair. Capt. Scott remarked that at his lecture in January, 1862, he had to describe the French cast-iron guns, hooped, rifled, which still fired the round ball, and made use of rifle pro jectiles with a low charge for the purposes of bombardment. Now the French were fast making steel guns, which they had rifled upon a simple plan, and it had been said that 4- one-third inch plates with wooden backing had been pierced at 1,000 yards by a steel shot from a gun weighing 6 tons. The rifling of their field-pieces, which are muzzle-loaders, continued unchanged, and the projectiles have similar studs to those that were first adopted. American officers who had taken part in the struggle going on between the North and the South had told him that in that country the navy had always been opposed to the faded guns, and although several of the larger Parrotts have been introduced it had been in opposition to their opinion. One officer, who had commanded a squadron, told him that the crews were afraid to use the rifled guns, and that in consequence he gradually got rid of all but a few light chase pieces. The experience at Charleston amply confirmed this idea, for a large proportion of the Parrott rifles gave way below ;an average of 300 rounds each, and most of them gave way towards the muzzle, owing to the increasing twist checking the shell, and so causing an explosion in the gun. They stood p retty well when fired horizontally, but could not stand hi g h elevations where the recoil was reduced. The new cast-iron 10-inch American gun of n tons, with a special charge of 43,1 a., was the most powerful broadside gun in the world, This charge was only in tended to be used when the gun was employed against an iron-clad. The 11-inch Dalhgren guns had been ordered by the Secretary to the Navy to fire a charge of 301 b. of powder when engaging an iron -clad; but the usual charge was settled at 291 b. for a solid shot, and 151 b. for a shell. The light charges of 301 b. were adopted after many trials, when it was found that 11 inch charcoal iron guns were far stronger than anticipated, and that as an iron-clad would be engaged at close quarters and the gun would be laid nearly horizontal, it would have but a comparatively small strain thrown upon it. The Southern States, although un accustomed to the manufacture of iron, soon started a foun dry, and had continued to turn out guns in considerable numbers. The size of bore most in use for their defences was a 10-inch. It was round steel shot from smooth-bore guns of this size which did such good service at Charleston, and large quantities of the shot were made by Mr. Vavas sour, the present manager of the Blakely Ordnance Com pany. Several other English makers also assisted, and the shot was sent out as " cheese." The Southerners had a pet rifle called after Captain Brook, which—like the Parrott gun--is of cast iron strength ened with a band over the breech. They found, however, from the capture of the Atlanta, that they were greatly mistaken as to the power of the rifle, and that after all the smooth bore was the best gun. What dispelled their confidence was a 4201 b. shot from a Rodman gun on board the Weehawken, which shook every titeber of the Atlanta, and killed or wounded about 40 men, besides paralysing the remainder of the crew. The Southerners had received a considerable number of field guns from Europe, some strengthened iron guns of large bore, and some steel guns. But the Blakely Company knew more about that i part of the subject than the lecturer did, The Prussian , system—from which the English lead-coati ng an d breech loading was a delicate off-shoot—consi s t e d o f a rifl i ng thesimilar groovesto th the narrowed Par• Parrott t and tow Blanton, arda the muzzle, and so relieved with the ex ce pti on th a t the strain upon the gun, It was possible that this ingeni ous arrangement suggested the contrivance of the muzzle nips in the English fine grooved and shunt g uns , as we ll as for the French plan, the principle being similar to that of our early Enfields. The Prussian projectiles were leaded so as to show large projectiles of lead, which squeeze down into the rifling with comparative small strain. They first used one and then two wedges in their breech-loading, but they have not found breech-loadin g so satisfactory as they anticipated for 24-pounders. The Prussians com menced with a field-piece made by Krupp of mild steel, and the wear of these guns had given them no reason to regret their choice of material. They then con verted their brass guns into rifled breech -loaders. They are now replacing their new 24-pounder rifled guns of 50 or 60 cwt. and their cast-iron rifles by steel guns. It appeared to have been a shot from one of these steel 24- pounders that lately damaged the Danish cupola ship by striking her on the deck. Referring next to the Austrians, Captain Scott remarked that after numerous experiments with gun-cotton, and almost perfecting its use they seemed unwilling to incur further expense, and therefore the manu facture was drooping. In the matter of artillery they had made but little progress during the past year. The position of the Spanish, Swedish, Danish, and Italian artillery was also about the same as it was in the beginning of 1862, The Russians had been recently making numerous experiments. They had copied the French system of grooving. England had supplied them with a large number of steel shot, and it was understood that most of the 9-inch and 11-inch built up steel guns now making by the Blakely Company were for that nation. The Russians had also given large orders to Krupp for solid steel guns, and had also caused several to be made in their own country ; but the larger charges and heavy elongated shot used had prevented the heavy solid rifled guns yet tried from withstanding 100 consecutive discharges—a failure which might be cured by the use of lighter shot. But there could be no doubt that the guns were powerful, and behind the iron slabs with which their forts are to be covered they would prove very formidable antagonists to any ships daring to attack them, for they could fire round shot with the heaviest charges, Having thus briefly noticed the progress of ordnance abroad the lecturer directed att en ti on to proceedings, at h ome ; b ut inasmuch as when Si r Wi lliam Armstrong ' s system was adopted it was said that the country was bound to work it out, any r emar k s upon home or d nance must necessarily be confined to a resumd of the progress and results of that system. He (Captain Scott) had the grati fication of stating, in connection with that system, that not only had the Armstrong 12 pounder been reduced a foot in length, but by the skill of Lieutenant Reeves of the Royal Artillery, a sort of Dutch case had been adapted to the gun for use at close quarters. Instead also of the new guns being made of an exc ess i ve length, the 600 poun d er is so short that it approaches the howitzer in that respect. The fifty Somerset guns building in the Arsenal were all that could be desired for 6 ton naval guns. The vent piece of the Armstrong was giving way to the double wedges and a vent hole through th e gun, thus following oh sely the Russian type ; and although the fine grooving had not been entirely abandoned no new 160 pounders were now being so rifled. In a word, b reech loading was flickering in its , socket before having been finally given up by Sir William Armstrong. The shunt system, of which the disadvan tages had already been pointed out, is also on the wane, it damage muzzle zltehefroeemtlys qiumeePzrienegei°thae as e ho t t e was the well founded. 'The whole of the heavy guns rifled on this Plan had cracked round the muzzle. So, after all, it was now , in contemplation to give up the shunts and grips, and come to a plain groove, with sha rp corners. But the same ten dency to fracture existed in these sharp cornered grooves as in the shunt groove. Capt. Scott next proceeded to notice the Armstrong and Whitworth competition. He described the guns used, and remark e d that the Armstrong ordnance employed comprised all Sir William's latest improvements, but did not include any gun b Li. now used in the service, not withstanding all that the nation had paid for the earlier forms of the Armstrong Mr Whitworth brought to the contest three 12 pounders and three 70 pounders, such as he proposed for the service. He had rounded out the angles of his rifling, and his shot w ere en ti re ly o f i r on rounded at the callers —an improvement w hi c h h a d g reatly lessened the :wear on the driving side of the gun's rifling. His 70 pounders weighed about 78 cwt. Captain Scott then gave a long and technical account of the result o f the expe riments at Shoeburyness with these rival guns. Upon the breech-loader he remarked that it was so far below the standard of the other s that seine of it s s t rangest supporters had at last said—" Let us, a t all events, hav e a breech leader;" and they had good reason to say so, f or w h enever 40 or 50 rounds were fire d consecutively, even with moderate quickness, the men in the rear of the gun had their faces h e that es ee escape soldiers rgsa woree4ltawaafesaursfuelleossf put in the wron g way, and taondfncrlothtberesoobnlancekartendo factbyt rapid firing that during 200 rounds . fired about a fortnight the gun as sailors, and became so agitated and nervous in once the breech screw was not screwed up. Roth these de fectsin time . by a spectator.. The 70 were happily seen ago the vent-piece was once pounder had not yet been tried, but the l ec t urer h a d no hesitation in stating that the Whitworth projectiles would have greater penetrating po wer than the Armstrong shot. The Mackay, the Blakely, and the Palliser guns w e re nex t passed in review, and, i n conclusion, the le c t urer remarked chat the discussion of these questions was a g reat nat i onal place earlier, and con d uc t e d advantage, and had it taken thoroughly, a very large sum of money would have been saved which had been expended upon weapons new proved to be of comparatively little value. This mo ney would have been far more usefully employed in developi ng th e s t ee l manufacture of the country -`a manufacture w hi c h was admitted by Sir Wm. Armstrong himself to be still far behind the great Prussian • fires represented by Krupp. All other countries had utilised the material already in hand, and expended very little upon new guns; but E ng l an d a t once commenced a new manufact ure, wbic h was pointed out at the time to be imperfect; and at the present moment there was not a single portion of any of Sir William's plans of rifling which could be adapted to a naval gun, Some remarks upon the many failures of the Armstrong guns in active service ; the benefits that would accrue from the sub ject of naval guns being taken up by a committe e of prac • tical naval officers ; and the best mode of plating vessels, brought the lecture to a conclusion. In the course of the discussion which followed, Captain Selwyn commented adversely upon the late leading article iu the Times upon the practical lesson to be d e d uce d f r om the late fight in the North Sea. The T imes declared that rifled guns and long ranges would decide future actions; and the Times also made other remarks concerning which Captain Selwyn observed that it was very dangerous to the naval supremacy of the country that the leading journal should draw such incorrect conclusions and teach such LAW INTELLIGENCE—(This Day.) LORD MAYOR'S COURT. (Before the Common Sergeant and a Jury.) ADVERTISING FOR EMPLOYMENT.-A NEW CHIMNEY POT.-lIADDON V. BAKER. This was an action to recover commission for selling a new and improved chimney-pot, and it created some amuse ment. Mr. Besley appearing for plaintiff, and Mr. Collins for the defendant. It appeared that plaintiff saw an advertisement in the Daily 7 elefraplt for canvassers for an article in daily and great request. He was to have a commission on all he sold and ho set out that he had intro_luced the article in a few places, but with great difficulty. In cross-examination plaintiff said he wont round with a sample, worse luck. (Great laughter.) Mr. Collins—Why so ? Plaintiff—Because I had to drag ablut all day with one of the chimney-pots under my arm, in a hat-box. (Laughter.) It was like a great pillow. Mr. Collins—Why did you not put it on your head. (Great laughter.) Plaintiff—Because my head does not smoke. (Renewed laughter.) Another witness deposed to having gone round, but he was not bothered with samples. He sold without. An attempt was made to refer the case, but plaintiff's counsel declined, and defendant's counsel endeavoured to show that plaintiff was seeking to recover for more pots than he had sold, The inventor of the new chimney pots said he made cer tain terms with the plaintiff, lower than those claimed. Defendant was the capitalist. Mr. Besloy—;\ ow is this your advertisement—" Wanted agents everywhere to introduce the everlasting mousetrap," (Roars of Laughter). Witness—lt is. Witnesses were called to show that special terms had been agreed upon before the plaintiff went to work. His Lordship having summed up, The jury found for the plaintiff for his claim less 10s. POLICE INTELLIGENCE—This Day. MARLBOROUGH STREET. COMMITTAL WITHOUT A FINE.—BRUTAL ASSAULT ON THE MESSENGER OF THE HAYMARKEI THEATRE.—JOhII Kennedy, one of a number of fellows who nightly hang about the Haymarket Theatre, and cause great confusion by running after and annoying persons leaving the theatre to know whether they require cabs, &c., was brought be fore Mr. Knox charged with the following brutal assault on Alfred Bell, messenger at the Haymarket Theatre, Bell said that on the previous he saw the prisoner and three other men at the dress circle entrance of the theatre annoyirg ladies by soliciting them to have cabs. He attempted to move the men, when the prisoner turned round and gave him a violent blow on the nose, knocking him down, and on getting up the prisoner gave him another blow in the face and then ran away. In answer to Mr. Knox, the complainant said he had not been to a doctor yet, but his nose was broken. Police constable 300 A proved pursuing the prisoner and taking him into custody. The prisoner said he was shoved by the complainant, and he thought he was justified in striking him. Mr. Knox said the prisoner was one of a gang of touters who hung about the theatre and were a perfect nuisance. The complainant was only doing his duty in trying to re move them, so that persons leaving the theatre should he allowed to do so without being annoyed, when the prisoner commits a violent assault upon him and breaks his nose, He should sentence the prisoner to two months imprison ment with hard labour. CAUTION TO BEERSHOP KEEPERS.-.-Mr Daniel Bard, the keeper of a beershop at High-street, St. Giles's, was summoned by the police for opening his house for the sale of beer before one o'clock on Sunday. Inspector James Brennan, of the F division, proved visiting the defendant's house at a quarter past 12 on Sun day morning, the Bth inst., in company of Sergeant Ackrill, and seeing six men standing in front of the bar, one of them drinking from a quart pot containing malt liquor. Having called Mrs Bard's attention to the men being there, he went into a room at the rear of the bar and saw some men sitting at a table, on which were strewed some playing cards. There was also a quart pot with beer in it. Mrs Bard represented the persons in the room as her lodgers. In answer to Mrs Bard, who represented the husband, Inspector Brennan said the door of the house was not shut, only closed to. Sergeant Ackrill corroborated the inspector, and said that on leaving with the inspector he placed a constable to watch the house to see whether any of the persons Mrs, Bard said were lodgers come out. A constable said from a quarter past 12 to 2 o'clock he saw persons leave the house and one enter. Mrs Bard having called some witnesses, Mr Knox ascertained from the inspector that the defen dant had previously been fined 20a and costs for keeping his house open till a quarter past one. The inspector and sergeant both stated that bad charac ters frequented the house. Mrs Bard said the police had not told the truth. Mr Knox said he did not believe two such intelligent officers as the inspector and sergeant would swear what was not true. The defendant was fined 20s and costs. T H. A.IIIE S. ROGUES TN GRAIN.—SCANDALOUS ROBBERY.—Thomas Clark, George Owen, and George Wilton, were brought before Mr Paget, charged with being concerned in stealing three sacks of oats, the property of Messrs. Sewell and Co., farmers, of Carbury, near Woodford-bridge, in Essex. Yesterday, in consequence of information received, a police-constable named Louis Lambert, 311 K, received instructions from Inspector Kenessey, of the K division, to watch Messrs Sewell's vans and carts on their way to Londoit, as it was believed some of their men were robbing them of corn to a great extent, Lambert saw a van drawn by three horses belonging to Messrs Sewell, and in charge of Clark, drive up to the Bird-in-Hand publichouse in Bow in the afternoon. The team stopped there. Owen, who is employed at the stables atttched to the Bird-in-Hand, took a sack of oats off the van, carried his load down the yard of the Bird-in .Hand, and was joined by Wilton, who is the ostler to another publican named Flowers, who is also a contractor, and lives nearly opposite Wilton, opened a padlock which secured the stable door, brought out another sack, and held it wide open while Owen discharged the sack of oats he took from the van into it. Lambert then made his appearance and at once captured the two ostlers, who seemed thunderstruck. Lambert also made a prisoner of Clark. There were two more sacks of oats in the van, and Lambert believed they would have been taken into the stables of the Bird in. Hand if he had not been pre sent, The prisoners begged most earnestly of Lambert to release them, and offefed him money. Wilton said, "I'll give you anything to let me go." In answer to Mr. Paget, the constable said Clark was present when Owen took the sack of oats off the van, and while it was being taken into the stable he stood in the road close to his horses. Mr. Henry Sewell, solicitor, and in partnership with his brother as a farmer, in Essex, said the three sacks of oats belonged to him and his brother. He looked at the samples of black oats taken from the sacks, and a sample taken from a building on his farm. The samples were all alike. He had a manufactory in London. The van ought to have come up empty yesterday. The horses were fed with a mixture of chaff and oats in nosebags. There ought not to have been any oats in sacks in the van. Clark had been carter and foreman in his employ at the faint for three years. Lambert said that two other men in Messrs. Sewell'B employ had been engaged in stealing their corn, and asked for a remand. Mr, Paget remanded the prisoners for a week, The Constitution of the Sun, Since the discovery of spectrum analytis much has been done to ascertain the nature of the sun's substance from the colour of the bands of the spectrum ; but whether the pho tosphere, that is, the luminous surface present to our eyes, and supposed to envelop a dark inner nucleus, is gaseous or not, it has not been hitherto so easy to determine. Ac cording to Arago, the photosphere itself is surrounded _ . by a transparent atmoephere, Herschel considered the photosphere to consist of luminous clouds. This question is ably treated by Dr. Magnus in a late number of Poggen- Annalen. He observes that is difficult to suppose that the photosphere, which sends out the heat of the sun, should not radiate internally as well, and thereby raise the supposed solid nucleus to a temperature of ignition since the reflecting atmosphere, held to be interposed between the nucleus and the photosphere, though it may prevent the illumination of the nucleus, cannot hinder the heat from passing. Ho is, therefore, inclined to adopt Kirchhoff's theory, according to which the suu is composed of a solid and liquid nucleus in the highest state of ignition, and surrounded by a transparent atmo sphere of somewhat lower temperature; Kirchhoff reject. ing altogether the idea of a dark nucleus which has hitherto met with such favour on account of the easy explanation it affords of the sun's spots. M. Magnus, having instituted some experiments on the radiation of heat, applies them to the subject in question in support of M. Kirchoffs views. He states that having introduced some soda into the flame of a gaslight, whereby, as is well known, it be comes much brighter, ho found that notwithstanding the diminution of temperature, which was necessarily caused thereby, the flame radiated abut a third more heat than before. When platinum, abstracting still more heat than soda, was introduced into the flame, the quantity of heat radiated was still greater. These experiments, accord ing to our author, show that gaseous bodies radiate very much less heat than solids or liquids, and that it can therefore hardly be maintained that a gaseous photosphere is the seat of the solar heat. Further, ignited soda ha s much more radiating power than platinum heated to an equal temperature; a circumstance of some importance, since seldom has been ascertained to be of one of the con stituents of the solar mace. false lessons. Young naval officers were, perhaps, better instructed in the contents of the daily papers than in the duties of their profession, and were therefore likely to pay too much attention to the remarks of those gentlemen who, sitting at home at ease, seemed to be oaf able of saying all kinds of things upon all subjects. No naval action ever had been or ever would be decided at long ranges. On the contrary, he believed in the tactics gallantly pursued by the Austrians in going into close quarters and doing what they could, although in that case, as in many others, two to one was one too many. A vote of thanks brought the proceedings to a close. Mr, Dion Boucicault and Mr, Webster, " THE FOX CHASE:' TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR,—An announcement to the following effect has been made to the public by Mr. Webster, the manager of the St. James's Theatre, in reference to toy new comedy, in five acts, entitled the " Fox Chase" : " Notice.--This comedy, when sold to Mr. Benjamin Webster, was guaranteed to be new and original,' or it would not have been so announced; but Mr. Eoucicault has just acknowledged, in a private letter, that ha took the idea from the French drama of ' Sullivan.' " As this notice has been freely repeated and commented upon by the press, I beg of your courtesy and sense of jus tice ,to admit my reply. I have not acknowledged in a private letter that I " took the idea from the French drama ' Sullivan;' three weeks ago, in a letter to Mr. C. Mathews, I observed that the story of my piece was the same as " David Garrick," then forthcoming at the Haymarket ; the anecdote underlying the two sub jects being the same. I now beg Mr Mathews to suffer this letter to be published. There is nothing in it of a pri vate nature, and there could be no reason for withholding the whole of it from publication, except a desire to mis-state a part of its contents. Mr Matthews knew that I had pro duced the piece completed, and in good form, in America, in 1844, and he wrote to me concerning these alterations and additions. I replied that I had no copy by me of the New York edition, and if the incomplete copy in Mr Webster's hands were thrust on the stage, it would barely escape failure. The facts are these :—ln 1863 I offered Mr Webster an unfinished comedy in five acts, called "The Married Bachelor; or, Don Quixote the Second ;" he lent me £5O upon it; and it is needless to observe that such an amount is a very small part of the value of a "new and original" comedy in five acts, such as Mr. Webster states he pur chased under my guarantee. He made no inquiries as to its originality. For eleven years the play remained un noticed ire his possession, until the 2d of May, when he advertised simply "a new comedy," by Dion Boucicault, Esq., to be produced on Saturday, May 7. On that day he postponed the performance for three days, and altered his description of it, calling it a "new and original" comedy, which announcement he maintained for th►ee days—long enough to enable him to issue the above notice on the day of performance. As "David Garrick" was produced at the Haymarket a week before my comedy was announced as "new and ori ginal," as my private latter was antecedent to that period. 11r. 'Webster was fully acquainted with the similarity which existed between the two works, and his announce ment was thus made to create an occasion to make an apology in the form of the above notice. n i l leave it to the public to form their own opinion upon the motives which have induced this gentlemen to produce my work in a manner to secure the failure I predicted, and then to place a playbill in the hands of the audience on the first night, containing a further inducement to them to condemn the play tendered for their entertainment.—Your obedient servant, DIoN Bouclcktna. Manchester, May 13. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Utterers of untruths should have good memo ries," is an old saying, and Mr. Boucicault's is rather at fault. Mr Boucicault, in his letter relative to the comely of " The Fox Chase," says that he did not state that he took his idea from the French drama of " Sullivan," but from the same source as "David Garrick" at the Haymarket, which is avowedly " Sullivan"—a distinction without a difference. "We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us," it seems. I hope Mr C. Mathews will com ply with Mr Boucicault's request and publish his letter. I ask for no better sample of Mr Boucicault's epistolary style. I have a vast number of Mr Boucicault's letters which, if he desires to see in print, his wish shall be instantly acceded to, with notes. Mr Boucicault states that in 1853 he offered me an un finished comody, in five acts, called "The Married Bachelor; or, Don Quixote the Second." That I lent him £5O upon it and made no inquiry as to its originality. Now mark, sir, how a plain tale sets him down. Ihe comedy was not only finished up to the last speech, but had been carefully rewritten in parts, as the manuscript in my possession will amply prove. In verification of its being finished, it was offered, and I presume accepted, at the Royal Princess's Theatre on DAcember 12, 1552, nino nannthia before he brought it to me, and afterwards to the Lyceum Theatre, but whether before or after it was sold to me I havo no date at present to ascertain precisely. Knowing that Mr. Boucicault's originality in "London Assurance" and other dramatic works had been rather seriously questioned, I required Mr. Boucicault's assurance that this comedy was " new and original." He assured me it was entirely so, and on the title-page of each act is written by Mr. Boucicault himself "A new and original comedy in five acts, by Dion Boucicault." In addition to this, the memorandum of agreement, dated September 5, 1853, drawn up by himself and witnessed by my son, commences— " Received fifty pounds on account of my new and original comedy, Don Quixote the Second,' being half the entire purchase money, if successful." It must be understood that Mr. Boucicault was in the continual habit of borrowing sums of money of me, and working a portion of each piece. I have before me now his I 0 U for £2OO, dated Juno 23, 1853, scarcely three months before the arrangement for the comedy. This I 0 U, with many others, are now only curious autographs, as Mr. Boucicault's incidental residence in America for sevea years allowed him the advantage of the Statute of Limita tions. The production of the comedy until now was delayed in consequence of the illness and death of Mr. Wright, for whom the character of Tom Waddy was written. I pro posed it as the first piece to bo produced this season at the St. James's Theatre, and knew nothing of its not being original; but " The Silver Lining " was preferred. However, being confident in the word and honour of Mr. Boucicault as to the originality I did not conceive delay was dangerous. Upon finding that I had been imposed on, at a time when I was his only friend, I thought it a duty to myself to announce the fact. I appeal to the public if his borrowed work has not been produced and cast in a manner to secure the success of any drama deserving success, and not in a manner, as he asserts, to secure its failure and condemn the play. The artists saved it, and were twice called at the end. Doubtless Mr Boucicault has been con founding this comedy with three or four others that he had advances of money to write, but forgot to do all but the titles.—l am, sir, your obedient servant, B. WEBSTER. Royal St. James's Theatre, May 17. Condemnation of La Pommerais. PARIS, May 17 (Evening). The trial of the poisoning case of La Pommerais was concluded to-day. The jury found the prisoner guilty of poisoning the widow De Pauw. No men tion of extenuating circumstances having been made, La Pommerais was condemned to death. The main points relied upon by the prosecution were : 1. That the deceased died of poison. 2. That the poison was the nature of those which, belonging to the vegetable kingdom, might leave no characteristic traces in the organs, and might not be eliminated by chemical analysis, but which revealed their presence by their effects, and were discovered by the deadly action which they exercised upon living animals. 3. The experts attracted not only from the matter vomited by Madame Pauw on the flooring of her loom, but also from the organs which were analysed, a toxical principle which, being tried upon animals, produced effects analogous to those experienced'by Madame Pauw. 4. These effects and this action greatly resemble those known to be produced by digitalis, and the medical men, without positively affirming that digi talis was the poison used, say there is a strong pre sumption that Madame Pauw's death was caused by that substance. 5. Madame Pauw was in no ~way ill till the day before her death ; the alleged affection of the heart and stomach for which she consulted several doctors was like the fall she said she had had—fables in vented by her, or to which she lent herself. 6. The autopsy sho wed conclusively that she neither died from a fail nor from internal hemorr hage, nor acute or chronic gastritis, nor from a per foration of the stomach, nor from any natural cause. 7. That poison was found in the prisoner's house, which he cannot account for. 8. That digitalis was one of these poisons. TUE PRUSSIANS IN JUTLAND.—Wo learn from a reliable source that on the 11th inst,, the day previous to that fixed for the cor.mencement of the truce, Field Marshal Wrangel imposed a fresh contribution on the in habitants of Jutland, and that the troops under his corn • wand actualiy levied it on the 13th and 14th fast, 99 99 99 109 Church-rates in New Parishes. Yesterday evening a public meeting was held in the new Iron Church, Brewers-fields, Bethnal green, for the phrpose of taking into consideration the Attorney. General's " Church Building and New Parishes Act Amendment Bill," which stands for second reading in the House of Commons next Friday evening. It was stated in the announcement calling the meeting that attention would also be called to the manner in which church rates were levied in the extensive parish of Bethnal-green, now split up into a number of ecclesiastical dis- tries. Mr. G. GOWLAND, who ores called to the chair, said that the object of the Attern:y-Generai's bill, which contained upwards of 300 clauses, would , pply to the whole of the 1,600 near' parishes %Iready created, ea well as to those which naght he formed in future years, he thought that la the present state of the church such a movement oe the part of the government was highly injudicious. The bill was in direct opposition to the promise of Sir Robert Peel when he introduced the Church Building Act of 1828; and he thought that liberal churchmen, as well as dissenters, should come for ward in opposition to the rate, for the result of the bill if passed would be that parishes now freo from church rates would be saddled with them. Mr C. STOVEL said that every year made the law of church rates more intricate, and it was necessary, therefore, that they should watch all points of the law in their most delicate applications. When he and others conferred with Earl Grey, in 1834, on dissent ing grievances, his lordship said that the natural re sult of dissenting principles muse be the destruction of the church, and that churchmen saw that point as clearly as dissenters themselves. He thought, there. f bre, that dissenters ought to state what they wanted and what they intended to do, so that there might be some moral dignity in their proceedings. He thought Lord Grey was right, and he for one had never hesitated to declare, as a dissenter, that he desired the severance of the Church from State. He contended that the church establishment was the greatest impediment to personal religion, and the most powerful machinery in existence for promoting infidelity. He concluded by moving the first reso lution :—" That this meeting deprecates a legalised and compulsory system of public worship and re ligious teaching in any case, and in whatever form, as being contrary to Christian principle, and unjust to the citizens who bear that wrong; but that is intensely aggravated when, as in the present state of the English hierarchy, it is designed to support teachings which are either not explicable at all or not to be ex plained in any sense which is not hostile to the written word of God, and especially when, as under the local eat of this parish, the deprecated compul sory support of religion is enforced in terms which conceal from the parishioners the real intention of the law." (It appears that in Bethnal-green there is no actual church rate, but the amount necessary for the repair of the fabric of the church is raised under what is called a " composition rate.") The Rev. Mr. HOOPER seconded the motion, and pointed out the nature of the grievance of which the parishioners of Bethnal-green had to complain. No one seemed to know how or when the act passed through Parliament, but every one knew that it conferred almost unlimited powers upon the vestry to rate the parish for church purposes. He com plained that many items were paid out of church rates which were clearly illegal, such as £3 6s. for hat and boots for the beadle, visitation, confirma tion, and ocher fees, expenses of election of organist, payment of pew-openers, &c. Such charges he considered it was the duty of the parishieners to resist. The resolution was put to the meeting, and it was unanimously adopted. Mr. J. C. WILLIAMs moved the second resolu- tion :—That as the churches erected under the several church building acts were built on the dis tinct understanding, repeatedly expressed in parlia ment, that they were not to be maintained by means of church rates, and, notwithstanding, ad vantage has been taken of the ambiguous language of the statutes to attempt to levy church rates in new parishes, this meeting is of opinion that the Church Building Acts ought not to be re-enacted by parliament, without the insertion of a clause which will distinctly prohibit the imposition of burdens on ratepayers for such a purpose, and that accordingly a petition to the House of Commons be signed by the meeting, and that the borough mem bers be requested to support its prayer." He went over at great length the history of church rates, and contended that the Attorney-General had embodied in his bill what parliament had explicitly declared should not be done_ He had reason to believe that the Attorney-General intended by this bill to throw impediments in the way of a settlement of the church rate question, and he had reason to believe that the learned gentleman would propose to modify his bill, by leaving out altogether the clause relating to church rates, so as to leave the question exactly where it stood at present. If this scheme of the Attorney-General were allowed to pass a gross injustice would be done to the non-conform ing portion of the community. (Hear, hear.) Nothing could be more unjust than to permit churches to be erected by voluntary contributions throughout the country, and then to allow the whole community to be taxed for their support. (Cheers.) The Rev. H. D. NORTHROP seconded the motion, which was unanimously adopted. A petition to Parliament embodying the above resolutions was then agreed to, and entrusted to Mr. Ayrton and Mr. Butler for presentation, and the meeting separated. ENORMOUS CATCHES OF MACKEREL.—The Corm nish seine owners and fishermen are more than ever of opinion that the present season will prove to be the most productive one on record. The catches for the week end ing Saturday last were enormous, and many of the local markets were overstocked. On the Sunday large quanti ties of fish were hawked about the couxty in consequence of the heavy stock secured on the previous evening by the Newlyn, Mousehole, and other boats, on the arrival of which at a late hour a scene was presented of unusual ex citement and confusion. So great was the quantity of mac kerel landed that in many instances salesmen were unable to get a bid for their stock. Carts were filled and sent to the inland towns and villages, and one or two of the boats left for a port where it was hoped something like a price would be obtained. Numbers of the fishermen, after despair ing of anything approaching ready sale, shared ' catches" at random, and the process of opening and curing was commenced in earnest. Hundreds of poor people were thus employed not only throughout the night, but during many hours on the Sunday. Much of the fish was of first-rate quality, and many thousands were sold for 2s 6d to 3s per hundred of six score. On the same evening some "East-country" boats landed many thousands of fine mackerel at Penzance, where the same difficulty as de scribnl above was experienced in getting rid of them. On the Saturday night also the St. Ives drift boats brought in large catches, which, as in other cases, were difficult to quit; one boat had 10,000. Altogether, there fore. the supply of mackerel secured in one night alone was enormous. On Monday the fishermen had nut much success, but on Wednesday unmistakeable evidence was afforded throughout Cornwall that the catches on the pre vious night had again been large. On Wednesday evening there was what may be almost termed a blank, while on Thursday the fishermen again sailed in the tide of good luck. On Saturday the markets were literally glutted with mackerel, and prices were very low. At Truro even, a town which is by no means one of the cheapest mackerel markets, splendid fish were retailed at 10, 12, and (ire the evening) 14 and 15 a shilling. Several scores of tons have been sent over the Cornwall railways, and some of the stations are almost unbearable on account of the great fish traffic dur ing the week. Notwithstanding the low prices some of the wholesale buyers have lost considerably during the past fortnight in consequence of the continued large supply of fish, the quality of which seems to be fully equalled, if not somewhat excelled at every catch. A CHILD POISONED BY BUTTERCUPS. '—An in quest was held on Monday last, at the Bull Hotel, Dartford, before Mr. C. J. Carrtar, coroner, on the body of a child named Sarah Elizabeth Heron, aged six years. It appeared by the evidence of the mother and father of the child that some time before death the deceased had com plained of feeling very unwell and in great pain about the body and legs. The mother afterwards discovered that the deceased had been eating buttercups from a field close by, and sent for a powder from a chemist's ; but as the de ceased vomited a great deal, and presented everyappear a z h e of having been poisoned, she hastened off for the parish surgeon (Mr. Martin), but that gentleman did n t et m arriveort on at the house until the child was dead. A Id that the examination had been made, which clearly preouv thought P Mr and the deceased had been poisoned by eating batter jury returned a verdict to that effect, but Martin might have attended soo ner upon the deceased.— Maidstone Journal. CRICKET. THE TWO ELEVENS. —This match was resumed yesterday at Lor d' s Ground, and it w ill b e s fir 2 s o t 4 i runs nin gs to 2l w B i-n s . ec l o V n n d subjoin the score : —A ll _ first seen that the UnitedEElet;eillai,l(ii: United, innings, 181. i nn ings, 166; t o tal, 311. EXTRAORDINARY LONGEVITY.—The obituary in the Times of yesterday contained more illustrations of prolonged life than have appeared in this journal for a oonsiderable time—viz., the deaths of four gentlemen and two ladies whose united ages amounted to 537, giving an avera ge of 89 years and 6 months to each, and, as usual, the fair sex taking the lead, the eldest having reached the great age of 103, and the youngest 83 years of age ; the oldest gentleman being 90 years and the youngest 85 years of age. SECOND EDITION. SUN OFFICE, HALF-PAST 4 O'CLOCK. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE—This Day, BATH RACES.—Thrs DAY. BY ELECTRIC; TELEGRAPH, WELTER STARES. Tippler 'w.o, LATEST BETTING. SOMEBSETSHIRE. sto 2 agst Baldwin (taken) 4to 1 agst Teneriffe (taken) 4to 1 agst Pearl Diver (taken) DERBY. 1000 to 12 a g st Signalman (taken and offered) No other change. MAREETS--This Day. MARK-LANE. The supply of English wheat on sale here today was very moderate. The trade, however, ruled heavy for all qualities, at from Is to fully 2s per quarter below the rates current at the close of last week. With foreign wheat the market was but moderately su p_ plied. For all descriptions the demand was in a sluggi s h state, and prices had a downward tendency. Floating cargoes of grain were in limited request, a t barely late rates. The season for malting barley is now over. Grinding and distilling qualities met a slow sale, at previous quo tations. Malt sold heavily, at late rates. Oats, the supply of which was moderately good—were in slow request. at barely stationary prices. Beans and peas supported Monday's currency. The show of samples was limited. In flour only a moderate business was transacted, 04 former terms. ARRIVALS THIS WERE. Wheat. Barley. Malt. Oats. Flom. English.-- • 210 1,780 3,940 280 Irish - Foreign...— 2lO j 3,C80 • I 3,610 tO sks, brls. WHITECHAPEL. The supply of meat on sale is moderate, and the trade rules heavy, as follows : Beef, from 23 8d to 4s Od ; mutton, 3s 4d to 45 6d; lamb, 5s 4d to 6s 8d ; veal, 3s 6d to 4:8 6d ; and pork, 3s Oct to 4s 4d per Slbs by the carcase. BOROUGH HOP. Our market is dull, and prices have a downward ten dency. The aocounts from the plantations are very favourable, SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE—(This Day.) BY MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. GRAVESEND, Wednesday Morning. Arrived, May 17—Sylph, from Barbadoes—Thomas Dryden, from Shanghae—Balaklava, from Algoa Bay— Sophia, from Dunkirk—Carlo, from Trieste—Majestic, from Jamaica—Santos, from Terceira. DEAL, Wednesday Morning. Passed, May 17—Cleopatra and Dorothea, from Deme rara—Jenny Jones, bark, from the West—Eskdale, from Alexandria—all for London—Duchess of Bedford, of Dart mouth, from the North, for the West---Ann Increax, bark, from the West, for the North—Cambrian, for Jamaica—. Heroine, for New York—both from London. LONDON GAZETTE—Last Evening. FOREIGN OFFICE, MAY 4. The Queen has been graciously pleased to appoint Alex ander Graham Dunlop, Esq., now her Majesty's Consul at Cairo, to be her Majesty's Consul at Cadiz. NAY 14. The Queen has been pleased to approve of M. Philipp Goldschmidt as Vine-Consul at Manchester for his Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Oldenburgh. MAY 17. The Queen has been pleased to approve of M. Theophilt. Chrestien as Consul at Rangoon for his Majesty the King of the Belgians. Course of the Exchange.—Yesterday. Amsterdam Ditto Rotterdam .. 12 f 12 1 Antwerp Brussels — 25 72f 25 77 Hamburgh _. 13 9 1 13 10 _ _ Paris _ Short. 2.5 32f 25 37j Ditto Marseilles Frankfort on Maine -120 i Vienna Trieste Petersburgh —32 a Berlin — Madrid Cadiz Leghorn Milan •••• Genoa.. Naples Palermo 471 48 471 48} Z 5 80 ::5 235 25 824 25 90 25 82i 26 87f 25 85 25 90 25 90 26 95 Messina .. Lisbon Oporto...- 25 90 26 95 54 51 54 51 Foreign Gold in Bars (Standard), per 0z.... £3 17 9 Mexican Dollars Silver in Bars (Standard) A FRIGHTFUL HINT !—The Einita ltaliana of the 14th calls the attention of Garibaldi to the follow ing points ;—That Caprers is a rock where there are not many houses, and where he resides with a very few persons and without any precaution. 2. That the Greek Archipelago is full of small islets full of pirates, always ready for plunder. 3. That consequently it might happen that, seduced by the promise of a rich reward, some pirates might surprise and carry him off, or perhaps kill or throw him into the sea. "For those reasons," adds that journal, " we recommend him to keep a sharp look out." ANOTHER FAMINE IN HUNGARY.—The Pesth Htirnok professes to have learned from reliable sources that the recent hard frosts have destroyed nine• tenths of tho rape and four-tenths of the wheat sown in Hungary. The loss sustained is estimated at 40,000,000f1., but the accuracy of the estimate is questionable. THE MURDER ON BOARD THE SAX.ON.--There is a naval court-martial in session at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, for the trial of Acting Master Charles Danenhower, of the United States navy, upon a charge of murder on the high seas, in shooting James Gray, mate of the British barque Saxon, in October last, off the coast of Africa. The charges are preferred by Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, upon the information of Lord Lyons, the British Minister. The case was submitted to a court of inquiry, after the return of the Vanderbilt, on which the accused was serving, and he was fully exonerated from blame, and justified for the act, and the finding, it was understood, was approved by the Secretary of the Navy. His lordship the British Minister, not being satisfied with the result of the pro ceedings, has induced the Government to convene a court martial for the trial of Mr. Danenhower, and the case is, as we have said, in process of trial.—.2lrew York Berea. PHOTOGRAPHY.—Last week M. Poitevin own. niunicated to the French Photographic Society a curious process of his for obarining photographs in relief on porcelain, a process which he calls helioplastie engrav ing. If a thick layer of bichrumatised gelatine re ceives the impression of light through a negative, and then put i nto water, those parts only will swell up that have been pro tected from the solar rays, so that all the s hades of the print comes out in relief, while those answe rin g to the light remain depressed. In this state e va theim o p n re p s o i r o c il elai o n n , gelatine resembles those ingenious views cin as above desc r ib e d , uses called lithographic, in which , on a lamp b e i ng pro duced placed behind, the shades are ia . Poitevin , b y n, having ri° degrees of thethicknessinon gelatiner P obtained his impression it as a mould which he co vers with plastic p or celain, on which consequently the sun ken parts ar e b rought out in distinct, the f us ib le enamel having. relief. The plate thu s prepared is then coated with a thin coloured enamel, and then baked in th e oven. The picture ut e th ry e depressions, w hi c h here constitute the however, not bei ng pure, t hi s i s reme diedgrTinhdeinlr ott;?the enamel carefully on the s p o t s re mt h o u s s t i c y o r m u n es i 0 un til the porcelain is u ncovered. This done, the plate (i s h u a ir d e e hd s y: is once more enamelled with a colourless glass and again ex. a p is r e o r c , e a ss D :_ ut A chm gl a a n ss , pproospedeseteo the ee faecltlioownionfgthderyfire ollodion plate is covered with collodion containing no bromide, but known to yield good impressions oy the ordinary methods. It is exposed to the action of the silver bath, then washed with filtered rain water, and afterwards with a mixture of half a gramme of camphor, 100 cubic centimetres of absolute alcohol, and two of acetic ether, so that none of the water of the previous washing ma y adhere to the plate. For this purpose the liquid is sip A - ly delivered to the , plate by one of the corners, and allowed to run di at the opposite one, driving the water before it. The plate is now left to dry, proteoted from dust and all impurity. In order to develop° the print he uses a solution of -- 1 gramme of pyrogenic acid, 2 do. of citric acid, dissolved in 100 cubic centimetres of distilled water, and a few drops of a solution of nitrate of silver at 6 per cent. The plates thus prepared may be preserved a month without losing their sensibility, and may be developed several weeks after exposure to the light. Advices from Tours state that the Bishop of Evreux has got much worse, and is now daagerously ill. The Archbishop of Tours, at whose house he has been stop ping, administered the last sacraments to him the night before last, and prayers have been offered up in all the churches. The King of Greece has invited the represehm tatives of France, England, and Russia to accompany him in his excursion to the lonian Isles. I